198 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Question. ITow much saltpetre is it safe to give a cow? 



Answer. I have known a man to give a quarter of a pound at a 

 dose ; but an ordinary tablespoonful is a good dose once per da}'. 



Quest 1071. Wiiat do you consider a safe dose of pulverized garget 

 root ? 



Ansicer. An ordinary tablespoonful to a dose ; I would not give 

 more than that ; I would rather repeat oftener than to give larger 

 doses; it would be liable to interfere with digestion. I know 

 when I speak of this I am touching on a sensitive place with many 

 who believe it is the cure for garget, and have a sort of mania for 

 using it, but it has no specific effect, as many claim. 



Mr. Cobb. Is the action of saltpetre anything like that of aco- 

 uite, upon the system of a cow? 



Answer. The two things are diametricall}^ opposite. The prin- 

 cipal efTect of aconite is that of a febrifuge, while that of saltpetre 

 is as a diuretic. 



Mr. Cobb. Which works the quickest, saltpetre or aconite? 



Aiiswer. In a case of that kind I should sa}' both of them would 

 be sort of general. I denied to the New England Farmer^ several 

 3'ears ago, that saltpetre was a sure cure for garget ; it is one of the 

 remedies we may use to advantage, but not a sure cure. 



Mr. Cobb. Don't you call aconite a good medicine to use in the 

 treatment of milk fever? 



Ansicer. I never think of using it. I give it to a horse when I 

 want to sweat him ; but you cannot get that effect on a cow ; you 

 can only get a general systemic effect. I do not give aconite to bo- 

 vines at all. Some of the best works on practice do not even men- 

 tion aconite as a medicine for cows. We give it to the horses 

 because it will sweat them. 



Question. Is there anything that is a sure cure for garget? 



Answer. No, sir. 



Question. Is it possible for a cow to be sick with the true garget 

 and not show it in her udder or milk ? 



Ansicer. You can't have a snow-storm without snow. 



The Questioner. 1 lost a cow this year and an old cow doctor said 

 it was garget, but there was no apparent trouble with the udder or 

 the milk. 



